Automatically timed drink mixer



Feb. 13, 1934. H. STRONGSON A 1,946,771

AUTOMATICALLY TIMED DRINK MIXER Filed Nov. 1 1930 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR, Herman Z. jlrong 'son A TTORNEYS Feb. 13, 1934. H. L. STRONGSON AUTOMATICALLY TIMED DRINK MIXER Filed Nov. 193C 4 Sheets-Sheet 1N VENTOR,

flerman Lj zrongson TTORNE V Feb. 13, 1934.

L. STRONGSON AUTOMATICALLY TIMED DRINK NLXER INVENTOR, flerman Z. ,Sfrongaon,

EA TTORNE 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 Filed Nov. 1

Patented Feb. 13, 1934 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE Herman L. Strongson, New York, N. Y., assignor to L. Oser, New York, N. Y.

Application November 10, 1930 Serial No. 494,595

3 Claim's.

This invention relates to drink mixers of the type in which the cup is assembled with a motordriven agitator by a relative movement between them in the general direction of the axis of the 6 agitator and, particularly, an embodiment of this principle in which one of said elements, for instance the cup, will move in the direction of separation, gradually as the mixing operation proceeds, and by such movement determine the 10 duration of the mixing operation; the operation being characterized in its preferred realization by the further functions of maintaining closure of the motor circuit during a portion of the separating movement; opening of the circuit by the separating movement after the agitator cup has assumed a relative position which renders continued operation of the agitator undesirable; and having the moving parts so controlled that, after completion of the agitation, the cup will rapidly complete its travel to the position in which it may be removed from the machine. Furthermore, in the preferred embodiment of the invention, a plurality of mixers of the kind described are mounted on the one and same base, each with its own independent cup and motor control and all arranged so that the several cups and completion of the mixing operation are brought to a common level from which they may be conveniently removed from the machine. The modifications of the invention contemplate the use of means, such as a rack-driven gear wheel, as the means for timing the descent of the cup, the rotation of the gear wheel being retarded by an inertia e'scapement device.

In the United States Letters Patent No. 1,600,- 543, issued September 21, 1926, to J. A. Heard, is disclosed an automatic drink mixer embodying in its organization a cup support normally occupying the position upon which the cup may be placed without interfering with the agitator and being slidably mounted upon the standard of an upright bracket within which is contained a dash pot, the piston of which moves with the cup support; means being provided whereby upward movement of the cup support closes the motor circuit, while downward movement opens the same.

The present invention improves the method of mounting the cup support upon a standard as well as the means for controlling the motor circuit and the construction of the dash pot and mounts a plurality of such devices upon a common base to which all of the cups are brought in uniform level at. the completion of independently conducted mixing portions.

In the accompanying drawings- Figure 1 is a side elevation of a drink mixer constructed in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention, the cup being in mixing position;

Figure 2 is a vertical axial section through the machine in Figure 1 in a plane parallel to the pictured plane of Figure 1;

Figure 3 is a front elevation of a triple mixing machine, each unit of which is constructed 5 in accordance with Figures 1 and 2 but mounted upon a common base to which the cups are independently brought at the completion of their respective completed operations;

Figure 4 is a top plan view of the machine shown in Figure 3 with parts of the left-hand unit omitted;

Figure 5 is a detail view of the elongated sta-v tionary circuit closing terminals employed in Figure 2, and 75 Figure 6 is a detail view showing a portion of the cup support and standard upon which it is mounted; together with a ratchet gear retarder controlling the downward movement of the cup support.

Referring to Figures 1, 2 and 5, 1 represents a base having an upstanding stationary column 2 carrying at itsupper end a bracket 3 upon which is mounted the motor 4 of an agitator 5. These parts may be of known construction. 85 Surrounding the standard 2 is a cylindrical slide 6 which carries a shelf 7 upon which may be placed a cup 8 containing the liquids to be mixed. The slide 6 and shelf 7 normally occupy the position shown in Figure 2 in which the cup 8 may be conveniently placed upon the shelf premilinary to the mixing operation or moved from the shelf at the completion thereof. The slide 6 is grasped or engaged by the hand in any convenient way, such, for instance, as by placing the fingers beneath the shelf '7 or grasping suitable finger pieces, one of which. is shown at 7, then be elevated to the position shown in Figure 1 where it assumes the proper relation to the agitator 5 to permit effective mixing. In rising to the position in Figure l,

' the slide carries with it a block 9 within the hollow standard 2 (connected to the slide through the medium of a screw 10 which travels in the slot 11) and this block supports a pair of electrical contact means 12 which, by the time the lower end of the agitator 5 is 'well within the cup 8, ride on to elongated terminals 13 (see also Fig. 5) and remain in contact therewith to the end of the upward stroke and all that part of the return on the downward stroke which coincides in time with the dipping of the agitator end into the cup. Terminals 13 being in control relation to the motor circuit 14, the motor 4 will be in operation so long as the contact means 12 are riding on said terminals.

Also located within the hollow standard 2 is a dash pot 15 and mounted in the block 9 is the rod 16, and piston 1'7 which cooperates with said dash pot. Dash pot 15 merges, below, into an escape enlargement 18, the efiect'of which is to permit the cup support 6 to descend rapidly during that portion of its downward travel, which occurs after the contents of the cup has passed below the limit of eiiective agitation. In other words, piston 17 fitting tightly in the bore 15, will retard downward movement of cup support 6 for a period of time appropriate to themixing efiect desired but as soon as this time has passed, the piston enters the enlargement 18 and the remainder of the downward movement is quickly accomplished in order to make the drink ready for delivery as soon as practicable. Piston 17 is movable on the rod 16 a distance appropriate to its cooperation with the stationary disk 19 adapted to cover venting holes 20 in the piston when the piston moves upwardly against the disk but leaving free bypassage through the holes when the piston is in its lower position. Thus in elevating the cup support, piston 17 will be held down by fluid depressed from the bore 15 and lifting of the cup will not be inconveniently opposed, but, when the cup support is released and begins to descend, the piston is lifted by the pressure beneath it until disk 19 closes by-passes 20 and so long as the piston 17 moving down in the bore 15 resistance is offered by the fluid, which substantially fills the dash pot, will retard descent and prolong mixing to the desired degree.

It should be noted that the retarding portion of the dash pot embodied in the bore 15 that fits the piston, is somewhat shorter in length than the elongated terminals 13 with the result that the agitator 5 will continue to spin and will clear itself of adhering fluid by centrifugal force, between the time it is lowered and lifted by the lower end of the liquid in the cup and in time the upper rim of the cup ceases to surround the agitator and catch the centrifugal force.

As shown in Figure 6, the dash pot described with reference to Figure 2 may be substituted by a rack 16 connected to the cup support 6' by means of screw 10 so as to move vertically with rise and descent of the cup, and this rack will be made to act upon a gear wheel 21 having a ratchet 22 which permits the gear wheel to idle in the upward stroke and a multiplying gear 23 which transmits drive from the gear wheel on the downward stroke to an escapement 24 having an inertia retarder 25.

Preferably a plurality of mixing units constructed in accordance with Figures 1, 2 and 5 or modified in accordance with Figure 6, will be mounted upon a common base 26 (Figures 3 and 4) with a plurality of standards 2, 2 and 2, each with its own cup support 6 including shelf 7. These cup supports will normally rest upon shoulders 26' at the completion of the mixing operation so that the cups are placed at a common level for convenient manipulation at will. In this multiple arrangement of drink mixing units, preferably each motor with its depending agitator will be mounted through means of a ring 3 in which the motor fits and which ring is carried by a slotted portion of the bracket 3 adapted to be drawn up to grip the motor by means of a screw 3".

I claim:

1. In a drink mixer, a supporting column, a cup support moving vertically upon said column, a depending motor-driven agitator mounted on said column and brought into and out of assembly with a cup by said movement of the cup support, a circuit controller for the motor-of said agitator comprising an elongated terminal member and a coacting contact member, one of said controller members being mounted on the column and the other traveling with the cup support, and a retarder comprising an elongated member and a coacting member, one of which is mounted on the column and the other of which travels with the cup support; the elongated members of the circuit controller and retarder being terminated at points which cause them to separate from their coacting members before the cup support reaches its lower limit; and the end point of the elongated member of the retarder being located to cause separation of its coacting member prior to the separation of the coacting members of the circuit controller.

2. A drink mixer as described in claim 1, in which the elongated member of the retarder is a toothed rack and the coacting member is a pinion having a controlling escapement.

3. In a drink mixer of the depending motordriven agitator type, an upright standard, a cup support sliding vertically on said standard to bring the cup and agitator into and out of assembly and a dash pot within said standard comprising a cylinder member and a piston member, one of said members being connected with the standard and the other with the cup support; the piston member being constructed with by-pass and including a piston rod provided with a disk above the piston adapted to close the by-pass and to and from which the piston moves and the bore of the cylinder having a the piston.

HERMAN L. STRONGSON. 

